Bridging barriers: how COVID-19 changed racial diversity in economics seminars

Biermann, Marcus (2025) Bridging barriers: how COVID-19 changed racial diversity in economics seminars. Economics Letters, 252. ISSN 0165-1765

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Abstract

In this paper, new facts are documented on the racial distribution of seminar speakers in economics. From a sample of 270 institutions, I determined that before the COVID-19 pandemic, 82.5% of seminars were given by White speakers, 13.9% of seminars were given by Asian speakers, and 3.6% by speakers with a Hispanic-Latino or Black background. The racial distribution of speakers did not change globally. However, the share of speakers from underrepresented minorities in the United States almost doubled with the introduction of virtual seminars during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
JEL classification:	A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A14 - Sociology of Economics I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I23 - Higher Education Research Institutions J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
Date Deposited:	13 May 2025 11:51
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2025 23:26
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128118

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